Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Pentas lanceolata cultivar Lava Cerise.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Pentas plant, botanically known as Pentas lanceolata, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Lava Cerisexe2x80x99.
The new Pentas is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rheinfelden, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new moderately tall Pentas cultivars with numerous flowers and attractive flower and foliage coloration.
The new Pentas originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor during the summer of 1999 of two unnamed proprietary selections of Pentas lanceolata, not patented. The cultivar Lava Cerise was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Rheinfelden, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in Rheinfelden, Germany, has shown that the unique features of this new Pentas are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Lava Cerisexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Lava Cerisexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Pentas cultivar:
1. Upright and somewhat outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Dark green-colored leaves.
4. Freely flowering habit.
5. Red purple-colored flowers arranged in large terminal corymbs that are positioned above the foliage.
Plants of the new Pentas differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Pentas are more compact than plants of the parent selections.
2. Plants of the new Pentas have larger flowers and larger inflorescences than plants of the parent selections.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Pentas are not fragrant whereas flowers of plants of the parent selections are fragrant.
The new Pentas can be compared to the Pentas lanceolata cultivar New Look Rose, not patented. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Rheinfelden, Germany, plants of the new Pentas differed from plants of the cultivar New Look Rose in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Pentas were taller and more vigorous than plants of the cultivar New Look Rose.
2. Plants of the new Pentas were more uniform than plants of the cultivar New Look Rose.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Pentas were lighter in color than flowers of plants of the cultivar New Look Rose.
The new Pentas can also be compared to the Pentas lanceolata cultivar New Look Pink, not patented. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Rheinfelden, Germany, plants of the new Pentas differed from plants of the cultivar New Look Pink in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Pentas were more vigorous than plants of the cultivar New Look Pink.
2. Plants of the new Pentas had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar New Look Pink.
3. Plants of the new Pentas were more uniform than plants of the cultivar New Look Pink.